Rope drum for axminster looms



Dec. 29, 1936. w. w. RoBRTsoN ROPE DRUM FOR AXMINSTER LCOMS Filed sept. 24, 1935 I I. E

Invenor Wham W Robertson dpt-632,* 7J

Aforney Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROPE DRUM FOR AXMINSTER LOOMS Application September 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in rope drums for looms and it is the principal object of the invention to provide a durable drum of light construction which will have a renewable rope engaging surface.

In Axminster looms it is customary to employ a needle to lay the weft, and in other types of looms, such as Wilton, plush, etc., a cutter carriage reciprocates along a guide. The needle and cutter parts are wound on a drum which oscillates, moving rst to carry the needle or cutter across the loom, and then reversing to effect return. The`rope has its ends connected to the drum in such a way that as one end winds up the other end unwinds.

It is desirable that the drum be made as light as possible because of its rapid oscillations and in the past this result has been achieved by the use of aluminum. It is found, however, that the surface on which the rope is Wound wears because of the softness of the aluminum and the cost of renewing these drums is relatively high. It is an important object of my invention to provide a renewable thin sheet steel band surrounding the drum and presenting a wear resisting surface on which the rope can be wrapped.

There is a slight amount of slippage between the drum and the rope and in order to avoid wear on the latter it is a further object of my invention to secure the ends of the band under a clamp block which is held below the cylindrical surface of the steel band so as to avoid contact with the rope.

It is customary to pass the free ends of the rope through openings in the periphery of the drum and knot them so that when the drum is oscillated one or the other of the ends will be placed under a tension strain. When the 40 drum is provided with a thin shell this latter must also be perforated to receive the ends of the rope and in order that the shell may not slip I provide the rim of the drum with a pocket into which the ends of the shell may be forced by the clamp block to prevent slippage between the body of the drum and its shell. In this way I maintain registry between the rope openings in the shell and the drum casting. This is a desirable feature since any movement of the steel shell against the rope would be likely to cut the latter. Slots in the ends of the band permit registry of the rope openings before the clamp is tightened in place on the rim.

In order to illustrate the invention I have 24, 1935, Serial No. 41,910

shown the same applied to an Axminster loom, but I do not wish to be limited to a loom of this type.

With these and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and. set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of part of an AX- minster loom having my improved drum applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a drum and part of the supporting and driving structure therefor,

Fig. 3 is a. radial section on lines 3 3 of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 6 shows the steel shell or band before being bent around the drum, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section on line 1 1 Fig. 4, showing the registry of the rope openings between the steel band and the drum.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown a lateral loom frame extension IIJ which supports a shaft II provided with a pinion I2 meshing with a rack segment I3 movable about a pivot o I4. A connector I5 is interposed between the rack and a crank arm it which rotates to oscillate the rack rst in one direction and then in the other, thereby rotating the shaft II first to the right and then to the left. The shaft may pass through one or more bearings I'I indicated in Fig. 2.

The rope drum 20 is provided with a rim 2I extending laterally from a radial web 22 secured to the shaft II and rotating therewith. A removable brake shell 23 may be held to the web 22 by bolts; 25 to cooperate with a brake band 25. The manner of operating the brake band forms no part of my prevent invention and the braking feature may be of common construction. A rope 26 has right and left ends or strands 2l and 28, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1, which are connected to a needle carriage 29 which moves back and forth in usual manner to oscillate the needle for the purpose of laying the weft.

The drum may be provided with flanges 30 and 3l, respectively, which denne between them a rope receiving space for the several coils of the rope, as suggested in Fig. 4. The drum has an aperture or opening 32 for one of the strands and a second aperture or opening 33 for the other strand. The ends of the rope are tied tightly to take up slack so that the strands which extend from the drum to the carriage are taut. While this is a customary construction it is not necessary but desirable. The matter thus far described may be of the usual construction and of itself forms no part of my present invention and may be as shown in my prior Patent No. 1,695,388.

In carrying my present invention into effect I provide the rim 2| with an inwardly extending part or web 35 deiining a pocket 4B which may be concave and extend between the ilanges 30 and 3l. A thin sheet steel band 4i, shown unbent in Fig. 6, is provided with rope openings 42 and 43 which register with the openings 32 and 33, respectively, already described, and the ends of said band are each provided with a pair of slots 44.

A clamping block G having a convex under surface 45 substantially concentric with the surface 4l' has two screws or other suitable securing devices 48 passing through it to be tapped into the web 35. These screws pass through the slots 44 of the two overlapped ends of the band and by reason of the length of the slots 44 the band can be adjusted until the rope openings in the band register with their corresponding openings in the drum rim. When this registry is obtained the screws are tightened in place, thereby drawing the clamp block down on the ends of the band to deform the latter as it enters the pocket and thereby prevent slipping of the band circumerentially alofng the periphery of the drum. If desired the band ends may be bent slightly to conform somewhat to the pocket.

When the screws are tightly fastened in place the upper surface 50 of the block and the screws Will be slightly below a continuation of the cylindrical surface defined by the outer face of the drum across the pocket. In this way contact between the block and screws with the successive convolutions of the rope is avoided.

When wear develops on the surface of the band 4| the clamping block may be removed and the band replaced by another of the same kind, the clamp block being usable repeatedly for a number of bands.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a drum for an Axminster needle motion rope with a thin wear resisting shell formed od a sheet metal band which is of light construction and renewable when necessary. It will also be seen that the pocket coacts with the block to deform the ends of the band so that the latter will not slip along the body or the drum, thereby maintaining registry between the place. Furthermore, the block and the screws which hold it in place are so proportioned as to lie below the coils of rope which are Wrapped on the sheet metal band, thereby avoiding wear of said rope. These advantages are not limited to the rope drums of Axminster looms.

Having thus. described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a rope drum for a loom, a drum rim to be rotated about an axis, a sheet metal band extending around the rim, said rim and drum having registering rope receiving openings therein, and means to hold the band to the rim with the rope receiving openings of the band in register with the corresponding openings of the rim, said means and rim having complementarily formed parts including a depression in the rim to deform the sheet metal band and cause a portion thereof to extend into the depression to prevent relative slipping of the band with respect to the rim.

2. In a rope drum for a loom, a drum body having a substantially cylindrical rim with a pocket therein, and having also rope receiving apertures, a sheet metal band extending around the rim and having rope receiving openings to register with said apertures, the ends of the band extending into the pocket, and clamp means to hold the band ends deformed to the shape of the pocket and thereby prevent relative movement of the band and rim to insure registry of said apertures with their corresponding openlng.

3. In a rope drum for an Axminister loom, a drum rim having an inwardly extending part to dene a pocket, a sheet metal band around the rim having the ends thereof extended into the pocket, said rim and band having rope receiving openings to be in register, and means to hold the band ends firmly in the pocket and prevent relative movement of the rim and band to preserve registry of the said openings in thel band with those in the rim.

4. In a rope drum for looms, a drum rim having a pocket therein, a thin sheet metal band extending around the rim and havingthe ends thereof extending into the pocket, the band having rope receiving openings registering with similar openings in the rim, and said band having longitudinally extending slots disposed in the pocket, and securing means located in the pocket and extending through the slots in the band ends and secured to the rim, the band being movable relatively to the rim by reason of said band and slots to effect registry of the band and rim -rope Ireceiving openings, after which said securing means maintains the openings ln register.

WILLIAM W. ROBERTSON. 

